Concavity Show

Episode 80 - Jessica Anthony, author of The Most

For episode 80, we welcome Jessica Anthony back to the show. She has long been one of our favorite writers and she returns this month with a new novel titled The Most (out July 30 from Little Brown).

 

Jessica Anthony is the author of three books of fiction, most recently the novel Enter the Aardvark, a finalist for the New England Book Award in Fiction. Her debut, The Convalescent, won the inaugural McSweeney’s Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award in 2004. A recipient of the Creative Capital Award in Literature, Anthony wrote The Most while guarding the Mária Valéria Bridge in Štúrovo, Slovakia. She lives in Portland, Maine.

 

Preorder the book on Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-most-jessica-anthony/20862156?ean=9780316576376

You can see some of the upcoming events for the novel here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/jessica-anthony/

 

Contact Dave & Matt: 

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

 

Episode 74 - David Lipsky, author of The Parrot and the Igloo

In this episode with speak with bestselling writer and journalist David Lipsky. To David Foster Wallace fans, Lipsky is, of course, familiar as the author of Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself which was the basis of the 2015 film The End of the Tour.

David Lipsky is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Magazine Writing, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, and many others. He contributes to NPR's All Things Considered, and is the recipient of a Lambert Fellowship, a Media Award from GLAAD, and a National Magazine Award. He's the author of the novel The Art Fair; a collection, Three Thousand Dollars; and the bestselling nonfiction book Absolutely American, which was a Time magazine Best Book of the Year.

His new book,  The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial is out now from Norton. The book examines the roots of climate change in popular thought, reaching back to the invention of electricity and the global impacts of technology. Lipsky profiles the scientists and characters who have taken up climate science and those who work to deny the effects of carbon and warming.

The New York Times described the book, saying Lipsky "spins top-flight climate literature into cliffhanger entertainment."

The extensive notes to the book, which he mentions in this episode, can be found at https://www.theparrotandtheigloo.com/

 

(Thank you to Kory Hill for technical assistance.)

Episode 7 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Chris Ayers

Chris Ayers designed a number of movie posters from James Incandenza's filmography. He posts his art and designs at http://pooryorickentertainment.tumblr.com

In this episode we discuss the upcoming 20th anniversary edition of Infinite Jest and the cover design contest. Head on over to Poor Yorick Entertainment to see the winning design and some other entrants.

You can follow Chris on Twitter at @chrisAcreative

Episode 4 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Corrie Baldauf

In this episode we talk with artist Corrie Baldauf. If you haven't seen her Infinite Jest project, check it out here: http://hyperallergic.com/178866/reading-david-foster-wallace-for-the-colors/

And follow her on Twitter! https://twitter.com/CorrieBaldauf

Show notes courtesy of Jordan Tibbett.

Show Notes

(00:00) - Intro

(00:30) - Guest Corrie Baldauf

(01:50) - Corrie’s Infinite Jest Project

(03:50) - Pale King Cover Design

(06:51) - Corrie’s Introduction to Infinite Jest

(08:20) - Color References in The Book

(12:00) - An Excerpt of Color Usage

(13:30) - Jenni Baker’s Erasing Infinite Jest

(15:05) - Matt’s Entry in The Found Poetry Review (http://www.foundpoetryreview.com/wrt-david-foster-wallace/david-foster-wallace-titles-roughly-translated-into-other-languages-and-roughly-translated-back-into-english/)

(16:19) - Various Narrative Threads in Infinite Jest

(20:50) - Corrie’s Profile in Hyperallergic (http://hyperallergic.com/178866/reading-david-foster-wallace-for-the-colors/)

(20:50) - Corrie’s Cover Art on Unspeakable Failures: David Foster Wallace

(25:15) - The Literary Community and Twitter

(28:38) - Infinite Jest’s 20th Anniversary Cover Redesign

(33:14) - Imagery of ‘The Cage’

(38:30) - Karen Green’s Bough Down

(42:28) - Corrie’s Experience Reading Infinite Jest

(45:04) - Autism and Wallace

(48:20) - Characters in The Pale King linked to Characters in Infinite Jest

(50:36) - Corrie’s Optimism Project

(53:50) - Corrie’s New Book

(55:40) - Wallace in The Classroom

(57:45) - Final Thoughts

(59:30) - Outro

 

People Mentioned

Corrie Baldauf (http://corriebaldauf.com/home.html)

David Foster Wallace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foster_Wallace)

Karen Green (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/10/karen-green-david-foster-wallace-interview)

Jenni B. Baker (http://www.jennibbaker.com)

Clare Hayes-Brady (http://www.amazon.com/Unspeakable-Failures-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/1501313525)

Sarah Rose Sharp (http://hyperallergic.com/author/sarah-rose-sharp/)

Sidney Peterson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Peterson)

Matt Tresco

Episode 3 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Robyn O'Neil

In this episode we talk with artist Robyn O'Neil. Her artwork titled These final hours embrace at last; this is our ending, this is our past is the logo for our podcast. 

See more of her work at http://robynoneil.com/ or listen to her reading stuff on her own podcast called "Me Reading Stuff" - http://robynoneil.com/me-reading-stuff/ 

She's @Robyn_ONeil on Twitter.

Our podcast is @ConcavityShow on Twitter.

Show Notes

 

(00:00) - Intro

(00:39) - Guest Robyn O’neil

(02:00) - Robyn’s Image For the Podcast (http://www.themodern.org/programs/Past/Robyn-ONeil/1464)

(02:40) - Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

(04:38) - The Believer Interview with Wallace (http://www.believermag.com/issues/200311/?read=interview_wallace)

(04:38) - The Believer Interview with Robyn (http://www.believermag.com/issues/200811/?read=interview_oneil)

(05:05) - Robyn’s Style of Work

(07:50) - An Obsession with Oprah

(11:08) - Robyn’s Background with Wallace

(11:25) - Reluctance to Read Contemporary Literature

(14:28) - Vladimir Nabokov and A Passion for Writers

(17:24) - Nabokov’s Connection to Updike

(17:40) - The Obsession with Writers

(18:40) - Steeply/Marathe and The Idea of Attachment

(18:55) - The Connection Between Self-Obsession and Creation

(21:38) - This is Water Commencement Speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI)

(22:20) - Finding Meaning in Art vs. A Higher Power

(23:49) - Art and Transcendence

(28:30) - Pop Culture’s Dominance in Society

(33:10) - Robyn’s Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/me-reading-stuff/id1010827465?mt=2)

(37:29) - A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life and Self-Awareness

(44:20) - Handling a Public Profile

(48:38) - ‘Midwestern’ Politeness

(49:15) - Robyn’s Influences

(55:00) - Hurricane Sandy

(56:48) - Final Thoughts on Obsession and Ambition

(57:00) - Robyn Reading From Infinite Jest

(01:03:12) - Outro

 

 

People Mentioned

Robyn O'Neil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_O%27Neil)

David Foster Wallace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foster_Wallace)

Oprah Winfrey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey)

E. Tyler Lindvall (http://etylerlindvall.blogspot.com)

Cormac Mcarthy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy)

Donna Tartt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Tartt)

Donald Barthelme (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Barthelme)

Vladimir Nabokov (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov)

Jeffrey Eugenides (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Eugenides)

John Updike (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Updike)

Hugh/Helen Steeply (http://infinitesummer.org/characters)

Remy Marathe (http://infinitesummer.org/characters)

Elena Ferrante (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Ferrante)

Howard Stern (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Stern)

Wallace Stevens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens)

Kevin Christy

Nick Youssef